Aardvael's Journal
Knowing full well one of these days I will likely fall to the ever present strife I face on a nearly day to day basis, I have taken to chronicling my life before I draw my last breath. Whether out of some form of twisted self importance or the desire to leave a legacy, this is my story. Learn from my mistakes lest you be doomed to repeat them. For as long as I could remember, my mother and I had lived quite comfortably within the walls of Lord Edelbern's keep, The Stahlfort. It wasn't anything too fancy, no feathered beds or the like, but we always had wood for a hearth, clean linens and warm food. I probably miss mother's cooking the most, a hearty venison stew. Even with my heightened senses, anything I make pales to what I remember of her cooking. She would go on a hunt every fortnight with a bow and a single arrow, right at the crack of dawn. Without fail by midday, she would return with the biggest elk any of the Lord's men had seen. Aeddwyn Enideyne was no woman to be trifled with. She was deadly as she was beautiful, eyes of deep emerald and near white ashen hair that reflected the vibrance of the world around her. As I seem to recall, I too had green eyes. I never did get to leave the perimeter of the Stahlfort, even when mother left for her hunts. Some times I would beg day and night for her to take me out, she'd just pat me on the head and say. "Soon, melamin." I'd spend those days watching the men garrisoned there while they trained, if I was lucky I'd get to watch Lord Edelbern take to the courtyard and spar with the officers. Watching him fight was like watching a painter, his brush was the sword, axe and spear. From then on I wanted nothing more than to be a knight, I stole dozens of training swords, spears and bows. There was a great oak on the outer perimeter I would practice on for hours and I'd hide the training equipment in a nearby bush. Before long, I earned the name 'Aardevil' from the soldier's there. I pretty much brazenly took everything I wanted, including the company of Lord Edelbern's daughter. Eira and I were fast friends for as long as I could remember, we were the only two children there. And as such, the only two receiving any formal education from Archivist Alder. Eira and I hated being under such close watch when we just wanted to play, so I ended up smuggling her away on more than one occasion. Her window was fairly low on the eastern side of the main fort, in all my genius and resourcefulness I made a makeshift ladder out of some rope I would raise with a stick to her window and she would climb down. She wanted to get out of the confines of the inner fort anyway, I was eager to show her all of the little things I'd found. This would work until we were around eight until a would be killer made his appearance. He must have been watching us kids and wanted to pin Eira's murder on me as to not rouse any suspicion. It was a day like any other, Eira rigged the ladder to her window and began to descend. I was going to show her a bed of wildflowers that had grown near my training spot, I remember watching her as she began her descent, until... There was a sudden a sharp pain in the back of my head and my vision went black, I was ambushed. "Aard, Aard! Get help!" Were the words that rang in my throbbing head, when my vision began to return, I could make out the form of a man scaling the rope ladder. I barely pushed myself to my feet and felt the back of my head, when I saw my hand, there was just clumps of hair and blood. The chaos of that moment happened so fast, I resolved myself to climb up after him. I grabbed his feet and tried pulling him to the ground, the man's heavy boots smashed my face several times- the taste of blood filled my mouth and I could only see out of one eye after his heel hit it directly. By some sheer miracle I had gotten a hold of his trousers and scaled my way up his backside, the glint of a pommel had caught my eye. Before I knew it, my small hand was bearing his dirk. His bloody screams carried through the Stahlfort when I drove it into the base of his neck. His grip on the ladder ceased and we both tumbled for nearly thirty feet before his back broke my fall. In a frenzy I withdrew the dirk and began to needle his back like I was tailoring a tunic. Before long his pathetic screams had became bloody sputtering, and finally silence. Only the sickening sound of a blade piercing flesh filled the air after his life left his body. I had taken my first life that day. Whether from my wounds or the intensity, I had fallen unconscious over my quarry. The next thing I remember was waking up in a strange room, a guard at the door with a spear in hand. Sitting upright came at a cost, my face felt like I had been kicked in the face by a horse. Though the state of my face paled in comparison to the throbbing ache in the back of my head. The man standing guard over me looked me in the eyes and offered a respected nod before speaking. "Yer lucky to be upright, little devil. When we saw ya, we thought ya had killed Yoland and were about to run ye through right there. Little Lady Eira shouted us down, turns out he was a bloody traitor. Ya did good, boyo." From that day forward, I couldn't look Eira in the eye anymore. I could only think about how it was all my fault, if I hadn't been sneaking her out like that for days on end. In hindsight, I should have been easier on myself. I defended my charge like a man should.